Have you ever found out there was someone bad in your Family Ancestry?
By jennybianca
@jennybianca (12912)
Australia
January 12, 2010 7:10pm CST
Every now and then, you hear of people who have discovered that a great grandparent was in jail at one time, or a second cousin was a pirate, etc.
I found out only ten years ago that I am a direct descendant of a convict. The convicts I am referring to are those who were sent to Australia to do their sentence of 7 or 14 years.My g-g-g-grandfather was caught housebreaking in England and was sent to Australia on a convict ship in 1833.
People used to go out of their way to hide convict ancestry, but now no one cares.
I remember talking to friends who had researched their family history a long way back, only to discover something "bad". A very distant ancestor had been hanged.
Sometimes it is just "rumors" in a family about a relative in the not so distant past.
So, do you have any "bad" ancestors? Are there rumours in your family about someone you have never been able to prove?
6 people like this
11 responses
@allknowing (153530)
• India
13 Jan 10
Not that I know of but one story which has nothing to do with bad ancestors might interest you. One of our ancestors from my father's side had some money with him a great lot in those days. Since there were no banks those days he would carry these gold coins wherever he went night and day. One fine day they got robbed and if they were not robbed ours would have been a different story. Who knows which nobility we would have belonged to!!!
2 people like this
@jennybianca (12912)
• Australia
13 Jan 10
Wow! Your family could have been wealthy. Such were the risks in those days for anyone with money.
@prepzter23 (131)
• Philippines
13 Jan 10
in my mother side my great great grand mother is accused to a crime that she doesnt do .She is accused as a murderer even if she is innocent.My mother told me about her greate grand mother she told me that it was late in the evening, my great great grand mother was hanging out with there friend because they have a party it was a Christmas eve.When they where going back home with her friend they were and when they reach there homes someone killed her friend.because they are last seen that they are been together than night my great grand mother has been acuse as a murderer of her friend.
2 people like this
@jennybianca (12912)
• Australia
13 Jan 10
I assume your g-g-grandmother was not convicted of this crime? What a terrible thing if she was.
@jennybianca (12912)
• Australia
14 Jan 10
But what do you mean "as bad as I am"?
1 person likes this
@jennybianca (12912)
• Australia
13 Jan 10
Was John Brown one of the Quakers who fought against slavery?
@jennybianca (12912)
• Australia
14 Jan 10
I guess a rum runner was considered quite bad back then.
1 person likes this
@ladym33 (10978)
• United States
13 Jan 10
Well my family history on my dad's side it kind of adventurous. We started out as English royalty then someone got involved with someone else and then somehow one or more of my ancestors was a Viking. So I guess that could have been pretty bad, but then it turns back around and we are also related to President Hayes and President Jackson somehow. Very distant to Jackson but not too distant from Hayes, although I am not really sure how he is related, I believe he would be some kind of great, great, great, .... uncle or something like that. Apparently my ancestors on my dad's side really got around. On my mom side everyone is Italian, and other tha my grandparents and my grandfather's brother, the whole rest of the side of the family never left Italy. So I don't know much about them.
@jennybianca (12912)
• Australia
14 Jan 10
The English Royalty part must have got wiped out by the involvement by an ancestor that was considered bad enough.. wonder what it was?
@lingli_78 (12821)
• Australia
13 Jan 10
no i haven't actually... because i didn't really try to find out about my ancestor i guess... actually, i can say that i didn't even try to find out about it as i don't want to know... and to me it is not that important anyway... so i just couldn't bother... take care and have a nice day...
1 person likes this
@jennybianca (12912)
• Australia
14 Jan 10
Not everyone is interested in their ancestry, which is fine.
@barehugs (8973)
• Canada
13 Jan 10
Back in Scotland in 1835 my Great Grandfather was just a lad when the kitchen maid turned up pregnant. His Parents, extremely embarrassed, dragged him down to the docks, and purchased a one-way ticket on the next ship sailing to the New World. He worked in Canada for 2 years to earn enough money to send for his bride and new daughter. His first son, was my Grandfather.
1 person likes this
@jennybianca (12912)
• Australia
13 Jan 10
I guess they thought pregnancy out of wedlock was a huge crime then. Guess they got a better life in Canada anyway.
@lelin1123 (15594)
• Puerto Rico
14 Mar 10
I just started to look for my family tree on ancestry.com. We found that my grandmom back in 1930 was in a juvenile center at the age of 15. She was listed as an inmate. So of course we were shocked to find this info. However, after discussing with other family members we found out that her sister was very sick with Turberculosis and the family had to be quarantine. So she was sent to this detention hall with a bunch of other kids. The sister ended up dying. I will continue to investigate to find out if my family has any deep dark secrets.
@vandana7 (102698)
• India
13 Jan 10
I dont have to go to ancestors to know who is bad. I am bad myself. :) Well, to be honest, I dont have a happy picture of my ancestors so I dont want to trace it still further. I think they must have done every crime in the book, and off it. And got away with it. :( We can never really know the truth. All I know is my mother's step brother was killed, and it is rumored that her father was also. My mother's family would be the victim type of family, and my father's family the offenders type. LOL.
@jennybianca (12912)
• Australia
14 Jan 10
That doesnt make you bad. People have no say in who they are desecended from. Sounds like youyr family has had a lot of trajedy.
@RAVENBLADE0842 (493)
• United States
13 Jan 10
Actually yes sort of, It was not actually in my ancestory, but close. My father's side of the family at different have done searches for geneology of our family and the farthest they went back was all the way back to the reign of Mary Queen of Scots. As the story goes my ancestor was the silver smith to the royal court, which was responsible for making their silverware and ceremonial cups they drank out of among other things. However Mary Queen of Scots was executed for treason by Queen Elizabeth the 1st in the 16th century for her involvement in an attempt to asasinate Queen Elizabeth after she was forced to advocate the throne of Scotland.
@jennybianca (12912)
• Australia
13 Jan 10
This is similar to my g-g-g-grandmother. She was the Lace maker to Queen Victoria. She married the gardener & when their child was two years old, they emigrated to Australia. Not thatthere was anything bad in that. They ran an ostrich farm in Australia and had 10 children.
